Trolley-harp.



No. 833,550. PATENT-ED OCT. 16, 1906. W. K. RICHARDSON.

TROLLEY HARP.

nruoumn'nnnn BEPT.1, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM K. RICHARDSON, OF LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS.

' TROLLEY-HARP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct, 16, 1906.

Application filed September 1, 1905. 7 Serial No. 276,764.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM K. RICHARD- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leavenworth, in the county of Leavenworth and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Harps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trolley-harps for electric railways, and has for its object to produce an article of this character of simple, strong, durable, and inexpensive construction, which can beeasily, quickly, and cheaply secured to or removed from the trolleypole and which is equipped with contactsprings capable of carrying any current and of being quickly and easily secured in or re moved from operative position.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists in certain novel andpeculiar features of construction and organization as hereinafter appear, and in order that the invention may be fully understoodreferonce is to be had to the accompanying draw-' ings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of a trolley-harp embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line III III of Fig. 2, but with the trolley-wheel and spindle omitted. Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line IV IV of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the fastener-lugs for the contactsprings.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 indicates the stem, and 2 the body, of the harp, said parts being of integral construction and the former of cylindrical form for insertion into the hollow end of the trolley-pole. (Not shown.) The body is bifurcated or forked, as at 3, to provide the substantially parallel arms 4, and the latter are formed with the alined circular openings 5. The arms 4 are also provided below openings 5 with slots 6 and with vertical cotter-pin holes 7, extending from slots 6 to the top of the arms and intersecting centrally the openings 5.

8 represents cotter-pins occupying holes 7 and of greater length, so that their legs may be bent oppositely and up against the top walls of slots 6, the operator being enabled to conveniently engage and bend the legs of the cotter-pins, as shown and described, because of the provision of said slots.

10 indicates the spindle for the trolleywheel 11, said spindle engaging openings 5 and being held reliably therein by the cotterpins passing through them. The spindle and trolley-wheel may be of the type shown or of any other suitable or preferred type, being illustrated in this connection simply to exem plify their relation to the harp.

Fastener-lugs of malleable iron or other suitable material for detachably yet reliably holding the contact-springs, hereinafter particularly described, in position, comprise cylindrical stems 12, cross-heads 13, and spacing-shoulders 14 at the junction of the stems and heads, said shoulders being circular and of greater diameter than the stems, and the heads are beveled outwardly from said shoulders, for a purpose hereinafter explained, at 15.

In securing the fastener-lugs in position their stems are slipped outwardly through the holes 16 in the arms of the harp and are secured reliably in such position with their heads disposed transversely of the arms 4 by the upsetting or riveting of their outer ends, as at 17, against the outer sides of said arms, the riveting operation resulting in clamping the shoulders 14 firmly against the inner faces of the arms to guard against any possipility of turning movement of the fastenerugs.

The contact-springs, of cold-rolled copper or brass or other suitable material, comprise the body or lower portions 18 and the heads or upper portions 19, integrally joined by oblique portions 20. In operative position the heads or upper portions are disposed in planes inward of the body portions, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2, and are provided with holes 21, through which the spindle 10 extends, said heads clasping opposite ends of the hub of the trolley-wheel. The lower or body portions of the spring-contacts are provided with longitudinal slots 22, pivotally engaging the shoulders of the fasteners, and the heads of the latter extend transversely of the slots and bear against the inner sides of the springcontacts to hold their body portions flatly against the inner sides of the arms of the harp and are disposed above the periphery of the trolley-wheel, so that the latter in oscillating or wabbling when the bearings are worn shall not weaken or otherwise impair the efiiciency of the spring-contacts by frictional engagement therewith above their points of securement to the harp.

In assembling the parts the spring-contacts are first dis osed as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that the slots can be sli ped over the heads of the fastener-lugs, an are then turned upward, the beveled sides 15 of the heads providing flaring mouths for the spaces provided between said heads and arms 4 by the shoulders 14, which facilitate such manipulation of the contact. The trolley-wheel is then fitted between the heads of the contacts, and the spindle is slipped through openings 5 of the harp, the wheel, and the interposed contacts, the assemblage being completed easily and quickly by slipping the cotter-pins through holes 7 and ending upward the lower portions of their legs within slots 6. The dismantling can be as easily eifected by reversing the operations described.

In summarizing the advantages of a trolley-harp embodying this invention it will be apparent that by forming the harp of a single piece of metal the necessary strength without undue weight can be obtained, superfluous weight being objectionable, because it decreases the oscillancy of the trolley-pole and ,necessitates the employment of a heavier,

and therefore more expensive, trolley-pole spring. The integral construction, furthermore, eliminates the necessity of boring or reaming out the lower portion of the stem or stalk to receive the iron or steel stem for engagement with the hollow pole of the trolley and also of riveting such stem in the bored or reamed stem or stalk and drilling holes for the rivets and the other incidental expenses of such work.

The advantage of the spring-contacts of this invention and application lies in the ease and quickness with which they can be assembled and the com aratively great width of contact possible, t 1IS large contact area adapting them, without undue heating, for use with heavy currents.

' From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a trolley-harp which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable and which is obviously susceptible of modification in minor particulars.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The combination with the harp having parallel upper arms, and the trolley-wheel mounted between said arms, of contactsprings having lower flat portion bearing against the inner sides of the said arms and extending above the lower rim of the trolleywheel, an up er fiat portion arranged in a plane parallel to the plane ofthe lower flat portion and bearing against the hub of the trolley-wheel across the entire end of the same, and' intermediate oblique portions connecting the upper and lower fiat portions.

2. The combination of a trolley-harp having its u per portion formed into parallel arms eac provided with a spindle-opening and a slot below said opening concentric therewith, a spindle fitted in the spindleopenings, and pins inserted vertically downward through the arms of the harp and the ends of the spindle and having their lower ends within the slots in the arms of the harp,

the ends of the pins being turned up against the top walls of the slot.

3. The combination with the harp, of a fastening-lug having a stem inserted through and secured permanently in the arm of the harp and an elongated head on its inner end slightly spaced from the arm of the harp, and a contact-spring provided with a longitudinal slot to pass over the said head and engage the lug between the head and the harp-arm.

4. The combination with the harp, of a fastening-lug having a stem inserted through and secured permanently in the arm of the harp, an elongated head slightly separated from the harp-arm, and a cylindrical neck portion between the said head and stem of greater diameter than the stem, and a contact-spring provided with a longitudinal slot to pass over the head and engage said cylindrical neck portion.

In testimony whereof I a'fiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

, WILLIAM K. RICHARDSON. Witnesses: I

ALBERT C. BATES,

GEO. M. SPnoUT. 

